May the mumbling commence!
Let’s “do it again”! We’ve come to the end of the New Testament. It is time to read it again. Great works of literature are meant to be read repeatedly. How so much more so is it profitable to read the Scriptures, the Word of the living Lord, over and over again? This time through I will be reading from the Phillips translation.
Welcome back to the gospel according to Matthew. As a father and husband, I like to look at Joseph. Today, I will look at the Scriptures from Matthew that pertains to Joseph in the first several chapters of the gospel. Let’s read from Matthew chapter one:
The birth of Jesus Christ happened like this. When Mary was engaged to Joseph, just before their marriage, she was discovered to be pregnant - by the Holy Spirit. Whereupon Joseph, her future husband, who was a good man and did not want to see her disgraced, planned to break off the engagement quietly. But while he was turning the matter over in his mind an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife! What she has conceived is conceived through the Holy Spirit, and she will give birth to a son, whom you will call Jesus ('the Savior') for it is he who will save his people from their sins."
All this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet –
'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel'.
("Immanuel" means "God with us.")
When Joseph woke up he did what the angel had told him. He married Mary, but had no intercourse with her until she had given birth to a son. Then he gave him the name Jesus. (Verses 18-25)
Joseph was a good man. He thought about others before himself. When he heard the Mary was pregnant, he could have been distraught for himself. The plans to take her as his wife were rudely interrupted by this surprising pregnancy.
Joseph could have leveled her with bitterness and wrath. The Law called for such a young woman to be stoned to death. Instead, Joseph chose to think about Mary, whom he loved. He did not wish to see her disgraced. He was planning to break off the engagement quietly. What a noble and good man!
But there’s more. He was turning the matter over and over in his mind. He was bringing the matter to God in prayer.
And his prayers were answered in the form of a dream, where an angel told him to take Mary as his wife. The unborn child was conceived of the Holy Spirit. He was to name the son Jesus. And Joseph obeyed to the letter the word of the Lord from the angel in his dream.
What a great and loving husband! Joseph was a husband whose heart was chasing after the Lord. Read more of Joseph from Matthew chapter two:
But after they had gone, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up now, take the little child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. For Herod means to seek out the child and kill him."
So Joseph got up, and taking the child and his mother with him in the middle of the night, set off for Egypt, where he remained until Herod's death. (Verses 13-15a)
What a good father! Joseph had a good connection to the Lord through prayer and dreams. Better yet – Joseph knew to obey! Joseph was a wise man among wise men.
Joseph was willing to put on hold the career that he had built and established for himself as a carpenter in Judea. He picked up his stakes and went to protect Jesus. Maybe Joseph used the gifts of the astrologers to help fund the trip. Maybe Joseph also sold his carpenter’s equipment to fund the journey to Egypt. What selflessness to protect God’s Son!
Would that we do the same – both as Christians and fathers! Read more about Joseph from Matthew chapter two:
But after Herod's death an angel of the Lord again appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Now get up and take the infant and his mother with you and go into the land of Israel. For those who sought the child's life are dead."
So Joseph got up and took the little child and his mother with him and journeyed towards the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was now reigning as king of Judea in the place of his father Herod, he was afraid to enter the country. Then he received warning in a dream to turn aside into the district of Galilee and came to live in a small town called Nazareth – thus fulfilling the old prophecy, that he should be called a Nazarene. (Verses 19-23)
Following the dreams that God planted in his sleep was a pattern for Joseph. It was so deep set that the last dream that is recorded in Matthew that God gave Joseph that the author thought it was unnecessary to let us know that Joseph obeyed the warning and advice.
What a man of God! May we learn to obey the voice of God even in the midst of answering a call to action from God. May we think less of our own plans and follow the plans the Lord lays before us.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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